ANMs at hand to assist Agency women in labour

SRIKAKULAM: As some women deliver en route to hospital, particularly in Agency areas, ANMs have been attached to feeder ambulance vehicles to assist women in labour. The ANMs will stay at the foothills while the pregnant women are being brought down from the hilltop areas by the feeder ambulance bikes.
Two deliveries occurred in the feeder ambulance bikes en route hospitals in five days. A delivery took place at Labba (tribal village) feeder ambulance bike about a week ago while the other occurred at  Bhamini (tribal village) feeder ambulance bike two days ago.

More than six deliveries took place in the last three months in the feeder ambulances on way to the hospital at various places. Out of the total number of patients shifted from hilltop areas, almost 50 per cent were pregnancy-related cases.  

The emergency medical technicians (EMT), who are also the captains of the feeder ambulance vehicle, underwent training in performing deliveries in emergencies.
To avoid such risky deliveries, feeder ambulance vehicle officials started creating awareness among the tribal community people to ensure that they were admitted to hospitals a week prior to the EDD.
For the record, no less than 350 patients are being shifted to nearby hospitals every month by the feeder ambulance bikes. 

While 366 were shifted to hospital in December last year, 392 in November and 414 in October.
Similarly, about 145 patients were shifted to hospitals so far this month. There are about 15 feeder ambulance bikes, operating in 28 Agency mandals in the district. 
Out of the 366 patients who were shifted to hospitals in December last year, 156 were pregnancy-related cases, said Srikakulam Emergency Medical Executive P Ashok.

He also said that feeder ambulance technicians were associated with medical officials in conducting monthly check-ups to pregnant women besides administering vaccination to the children. Monthly check-ups to pregnant women would be conducted on ninth of every month. 

Since the EMTs have the data of pregnant women, including the EDD (expected date of delivery), they would shift the pregnant women at least two days in advance. Under the impact of feeder ambulance bikes, the dolees (make-shift stretchers) have vanished in the Agency area. 
“Though the duty of the feeder ambulance bikes is to shift patients from hilltop villages to ‘108’ ambulance vehicles, we shifted several patients to the nearby hospitals as the vehicles could not reach the spot (foothills or nearby road from the hilltop),” he added.